Digital dirty tricks sandbag a second female London politician

If there’s any doubt about below-the-belt politics in London’s civic election campaign, a second fake campaign website — another targeting a left-leaning woman seeking re-election — surfaced Wednesday, adding a new layer to the digital dirty tricks seen in this election.

Observers warn it’s unlikely to be the end of the rough stuff online, the new battleground for negative campaigning.

Coun. Virginia Ridley is the second city politician to be targeted with a website bashing her voting record and personal life. One page on the site, since taken down, alleges she committed “child abuse” by taking her young son to a long weekend city council budget meeting in 2016.

Ridley rejects that claim, saying it’s “not true or reflective of what happened,” but notes the wider issue is the fake news quality of the attack which she told The Free Press “really feels personal.”

“But this is false, a significant allegation and an attack to my character and the person I am. I don’t think it’s acceptable.”

One political expert says what stands out to her about the attacks — earlier this week, it was Coun. Maureen Cassidy who found herself victimized by a fake campaign site eerily similar to the one that went after Ridley — is that the targets both are women.

“I think what’s really compelling is it’s a gendered attack,” said Jacquetta Newman, a political science professor at King’s University College, She points to double standards about women politicians abandoning their children and stereotypes about women as big self-spenders.

“These fake news sites are using historical gender means to discredit these two candidates.”

The site, taken down at some point Wednesday, described Ridley as “a colossal spendthrift, greedy, irresponsible.” A link to the site was posted on a Facebook page called the Truth about Virginia Ridley.

It appeared online one day after fake election signs cropped up in north London’s Ward 5, directing voters to a website bashing Maureen Cassidy for her views, voting record and alleged lack of integrity.

Cassidy had an affair with Mayor Matt Brown earlier in this council’s term.

Compared to old-school dirty tricks, like nasty flyers, social media and digital platforms make it easier to launch political attacks, says a Fanshawe College professor who specializes in digital marketing and management.

“It’s low-risk, so we’re going to see more and more of this,” Trent Cruz said. “There’s a greater risk of setting up flyers somewhere; someone might see you stapling them.”

Ridley acknowledged the attack site on social media, saying “I’m going to pay very little attention to it because that’s what it deserves.”

The sites – extremely similar in style and content – were set up to look like legitimate political websites, using the candidates’ names as the domain. Both have since been removed. The Free Press could not verify who was behind them.

Cruz said that’s likely the appeal. It’s easy to hide the trail behind sponsored Facebook posts and anonymously created websites. And the nature of social media often helps those pointed attacks spread like wildfire.

“It has a much greater reach and there’s a kind of cyclical echo chamber effect. Because it has a greater reach, you’re more likely to report on it,” he said.

Newman suggested the two women were likely targeted because they’re incumbent politicians, a significant threat to competitors.

“Of all the women running right now, they are the most competitive,” she said. “The fact is, they’re both incumbents. These attacks are basically trying to kill the king.”

The sites take aim at Cassidy and Ridley for voting in favour of London’s contentious $500-million bus rapid transit project, a pay raise for ward councillors – both of which were supported by a majority of council – as well as a unanimous, anti-hate motion crafted on the floor of council that came under fire for its potential to quash free speech in public spaces.

Former mayor Joni Baechler, who publicly endorsed Cassidy in 2014 when she ran for Baechler’s former Ward 5 seat, called the sites “appalling and shameful.”

“There’s lots of dirty tactics employed during campaigns that are difficult to deal with, but this is a whole new level of anonymous, underhanded action, trying to destroy the reputation of two high-quality women on council,” she said.

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